National Police Week

On Wednesday afternoon, outside of the Capitol Building, Democrat and republican congress members gather to remember fallen law enforcement officials and announce the passage of the National Blue Alert Act in the House.

In the sunshine just outside of the Capitol Building on Wednesday afternoon, Houston Democrat Sheila Jackson Lee gathered with various other House members — some Republican, some Democratic — to pay tribute to law enforcement officials as part of National Police Week, an annual, nonpartisan event on Capitol Hill created to honor law enforcement officials.

In conjunction with the week’s theme, the National Blue Alert Act was passed nearly unanimously Tuesday night in the House – 394 to 1. (That’s about as unanimous as it gets in the House.)

The Blue Alert is a program similar to an Amber Alert, only instead of spreading information about a missing child, the Blue Alert spreads information about a suspect who has attacked or assaulted a police officer.

“I celebrate the Blue Alert legislation program and legislation that is going to ensure greater safety for our law enforcement,” Jackson Lee said at a bipartisan press conference outside the Capitol. “We should never step away from their side, we should never support the cutting of law enforcement officers and police form this nation.”

Rep. Pedro Pierluisi, the Democrat from Puerto Rico, like many of the others who spoke, emphasized the bill’s bipartisan nature.

“This demonstrates that Republicans and Democrats can stake out common ground and identify solutions to the problems that confront us,” Pierluisi said.

It is probably obvious that neither party would speak out against law enforcement officials. But the partisan divide has been emphasized by this session of Congress to a degree that mutual support of policemen is something to be touted.

The scene of bipartisanship outside stood in contrast to the one within the Capitol building. Even as her colleagues spoke of the small bipartisan success story, Jackson Lee walked back inside the building to participate in the very partisan debate over who should be protected from domestic and sexual assault.

Not that either side supports the abuse of women, of course.

But for the first time in 18 years, the Violence Against Women Act is facing resistance to reauthorization because ideas differ on how victims should be supported when they are in the country illegally, are lesbian, bisexual or transgender or are members of Indian tribes.

The bill faced a partisan divide in the Senate (where the Democratic-backed billed was opposed by nearly all the Republican men — and none of the Republican women). Now, the same is true in the House, where the Republican-backed bill is being opposed by numerous Democrats, including the Obama administration.

The dividing line is the same: Democrats would explicitly cover more women. Republicans say Democrats are trying to make violence against women into a partisan issue.

“I rise in opposition to the act and ask who should – who should – refuse to help a victim of domestic violence?” Jackson Lee said. “It is obvious this legislation is not bipartisan.”

After speaking about the Blue Alert, upstate New York Republican Rep. Chris Gibson commented on how important the bipartisan move was for the House.

“In 2012, if you believe as I do that the status quo is unacceptable, the only way to move forward is by finding consensus,” Gibson said. “Moments like this, when you see Democrats and Republican working together, this is an example how we need to work together.”

But Wednesday afternoon, all those moments took place outside the House chambers.